COVID-19, A New Reality

Coronavirus. There’s a lot of fear and concern taking place in the world, and rightfully so. While many of you might be acknowledging the change, at some point we all have taken a ride on the ‘existential wave’ about where this pandemic is going, and how we are making sense of our new reality.

Talking about death and meaning-making is a conversation many people avoid, and certainly not something necessarily welcomed at the dinner table. Who wants to talk about purpose and dying? What a buzzkill conversation at the party. Unfortunately, that’s the attitude many of us have no matter where we are or who we are with. Death makes us uncomfortable. We don’t talk about it, and yet we all have our questions, our fears, and our wonders.

At some point, whether it was welcomed or unplanned, we all experience a moment (or a few) that scares the crap out of us, and we question literally everything, down to our mere day-to-day movements. It's the moment we come to terms with our mortality, which we’ve come to know as the “existential crisis.” A mouthful, I know. Break down the words, and you come to understand that it means just so, "distress about one's existence." It's the ultimate fear about each and every single one of us not being here anymore, and whether or not all that effort (or lack thereof) got us to where we want to be by that final moment when our eyes close.

How long a person experiences this kind of distress, and the severity of their 'uncertainty' is up to each individual. The more we try to avoid and numb or attempt to erase the feelings, especially those of us that like to purchase shiny objects, the harder it becomes to acknowledge it. And that’s just it, we can’t outrun death. We must confront it.

So here we are, faced with a pandemic stealing away the lives of those we love and bringing many of us to depths of illness, anxiety, and depression we have never experienced before. How does one learn to confront this terror? Through the meaning we give our lives.

Whether we are on the front lines making tremendous sacrifices or staying at home trying to keep safe and healthy, we are all charged with the introspection of our lives and our purpose. For the first time in our lifetime, the world has come to a screeching halt, and we have an opportunity to slow down and reflect. We have been doing too much and with less quality. Now's the chance to address the busyness; to really gain clarity into the life you live and its meaning to you. You aren't just answering to the demands and expectations others have of you, you're now answering to your own.

All of those personal projects, all the missed opportunities to connect with your loved ones, and all the potentials that were never birthed due to your routines and your excuse-making, you finally have the time to work on yourself. Because that's what we have right now, time. And lots of it.

This pandemic isn't going away any time soon, no matter how hard we wish it away, and you might never get this opportunity again. Re-structure yourself. Ask yourself, "What matters to me?" This moment in time is forcing you to recognize the value and precious gift that we call “life,” as we watch it being taken away from those around us.

And that’s just it. Life. Existence. Is it about all the materials we can acquire across the span of your time here on earth? Or is it about the richness and depth of your experience? You decide.